So About Last Night
by OhMyGodWhyDidIWriteThis
Summary: Maka drinks. Soul deals. And Black Star watches it all.
1. Chapter 1

Derp derp. Drunk people are fun?

* * *

"Ha ha ha I'm _drunk_!" Black Star stared at the rather inebriated Maka, finding himself, for once, at a loss for words. Her left arm was slung around Soul's neck and she was grinning stupidly as she leaned against him, obviously unable to stand herself. Soul didn't seem to be particularly sober himself as he just laughed in response, one hand holding Maka's as his right arm was snaked around her waist. At least he was acting a bit drunk, though there was something in his expression that made Black Star suspect that maybe he was just _playing along…_

"No _really_." Forcing Soul aside Maka stumbled forward. She grabbed Black Star's face, stretching his cheeks out as she giggled. Black Star stepped back, too stunned to slap her away. "You wanna know something? I _fart_."

"Um, Maka…?"

"No no, really! It's true!" She nodded conspiratorially, sneaking glances at Soul. Gesturing for Black Star to come closer she leaned toward him, a hand cupped around her mouth in a vain effort to muffle her voice. "I _do_. I'm _gassy_ when I'm _drunk_," she stage-whispered, and behind her Soul placed a hand over his mouth, struggling not to burst out in laughter at her confession. "I even farted on _Soul_."

"Maka…" Black Star took a step back as he found himself repeating Crona's mantra – _I don't know how to deal with this!_ Soul just snerked and reached forward, grabbing Maka's shoulder as he pulled her back. "Maka, you're… drunk."

"Yeah she is," Soul said agreeably as he pulled his meister back. She made a face but sagged against him again, laughing and snorting at nothing in particular. "Come on Maka, you need to get to bed."

"What? Noooo!" Even as she whined she walked along with him, feet tripping over each other as Soul patiently guided her to the couch. "Soul, I'm fine! You're _drunk_," she insisted as he pushed her down onto the padded surface. "I'm completely, I'm so, this is _fine_. Why are you all, all, _bossy_?"

"Well maybe you are fine," he said, still patient, still smiling. "I actually know a test for this. Maka, are you drunk?"

"Yeah, but-" She paused, face twisting with understanding. "Ooooh." Soul just smiled and nodded.

"Come on. Get to bed before you say anything else you're gonna regret."

"I'm not gonna regret _nothing_," she insisted stubbornly. Soul pulled a blanket over her and Black Star watched as she grabbed it, twisting it in her hands before pulling it to the floor. "Stupid face."

"You told Black Star that you fart. On _me_."

"Nuh-uh. I don't. I'm a lady." Now that his initial shock was fading Black Star smiled himself, realizing that this was a rare sight indeed. Soul just sighed as he crouched next to her and Maka's petulant expression melted. "Soul, stay with me. I don't want to be alone."

"I'll stay with you," he said and she smiled. Maka rolled onto her side and closed her eyes as he pulled the blanket back up over her. "See? You know I'll never leave you."

"I love you…" That was said with a sigh as she nuzzled her own arm. Soul patted her on the shoulder and stood, looking a bit exhausted. "Soul…"

"I'm still here." Even as he said this the white-haired scythe was quietly stepping away, finger held to his lips as he gestured for Black Star to follow. He nodded and promptly stepped back into the side-table, his leg banging the fixture back against the wall and knocking the lamp off of its resting place. He caught it, keeping it from shattering, and Soul looked on in horror. Maka just made a vague mumbling noise and curled up further. "Come on…"

After securing the lamp Black Star followed, curiosity now the reigning emotion. "So," he said, still a bit too shocked to just jump in with the expected question. Soul just sighed as he poured himself a glass of water. On the counter was a bottle of vodka, open and half-empty. "… what happened?"

"It's a long story Black Star…"


	2. Chapter 2

So the portmanteau for my favorite pairing is either Soma ( the drug from A Brave New World ) or Maul. I… feel this sums up their relationship perfectly.

* * *

_-12.00 hours_

"Aw, shit. Really?" Soul sighed as the plethora of multi-colored envelopes fluttered from his locker, coating his sneakers in an avalanche of paper. Red, blue, green, black; they were obviously going out of their way now to pick the 'cool' colors in the hopes of attracting his attention. It was wasted effort and a waste of some perfectly good trees. All he was going to do was dump them in the garbage, just like he did every other day.

As he crouched down to scoop them up he became aware of heavy footsteps walking toward him. Soul glanced to the side to see Maka walk up and stop, hands pressed flat against the front of her skirt as she held a book. It was a good thing too. As close as she was it wouldn't have taken any effort to see right up her skirt… _Not that there's much to see anyway._ "This again? I thought you cleaned your locker out this morning."

"I _had_," Soul groused. He slid them together, trying to form a mismatched pile to make picking them up easier. "I'm actually surprised there aren't more. Seriously, can't they take a hint? This really isn't cool at all."

"What do you do with the letters?" she asked, head tilting a bit to the side. Soul just looked up blankly, unsure what her question even meant. "I mean, there's so many of them… how do you find the time to read them?"

"I don't." All but a few had been gathered together and Soul stood up. Maka frowned as he walked a few steps down the hall and, with no ceremony, deposited the love-notes into the garbage. "I did, when it first started. They all say the same thing. Oh Soul, I love you. Oh Soul, please be my partner. Oh Soul, you're my everything." He rolled his eyes and chuckled, amused by the obvious desperation. "I know I am _that_ cool but it's really getting pathetic. You'd think these girls would have something better to do than fawn over me."

"Huh." Maka didn't seem to share in his amusement. As he walked back to his locker she shifted her foot out, boot stepping down on the lone white envelope. "I… guess it's a little sad but… some of these girls are probably pouring their hearts out to you and you can't even give them the courtesy of reading what they wrote."

"Are you serious Maka?" Soul laughed against as he picked the stragglers up, though when his fingers inched toward the letter caught under Maka's shoe the brunette shot him a withering look. With great care she bent down and snagged it, bending it between her fore and middle finger. There was some writing on the front, though she didn't give him enough time to see what it said. The handwriting was familiar, though. "You really think any of the girls care beyond just, just wanting someone like _me_ as their partner?"

"I don't know." She didn't sound angry, exactly, but Soul still felt uneasy at her tone. Sad? No. Disappointed? In him? But why? "I guess if a girl's going to resort to this to talk to you she probably deserves to be ignored."

"Uh, yeah. Maka, that letter-?" Even as he reached out to take it from her Maka stepped back. The white paper was folded and slipped into the book, its crumpled tip poking out to mock him. "Hey! Someone wrote that to me!"

"It's not like you were even gonna read it," she said flatly. "I need to stop by Papa's for a bit but I'll be home before dinner."

"Oh. Uh, actually…" Soul rubbed the back of his neck as he stood. "I'm kind of having dinner out tonight, so-"

"Oh." He couldn't bring himself to look up at her. "That's fine. Don't worry, I won't wait up for you."

* * *

"Soul?"

"Huh?"

"You were saying?"

Soul blinked, snapping himself out of his reverie. He was standing by the sink, a wet rag in one hand and the bottle of vodka in the other. He grimaced before turning the bottle upside-down, emptying its remaining contents into the sink. "Right. So how this happened. I was out tonight with… doesn't really matter but I got home late. I didn't think Maka would still be awake but…"

* * *

_-3.00 hours_

The first thing Soul noticed was that all the lights were still on. They were pretty lucky with the apartment ( well, actually, luck had little to do with it; all academy students had access to the same plan ) and the bill included electricity and water but even so Maka wasn't the type to waste money even if she wasn't the one paying for it. The second thing was the noise. Even as he stood outside fumbling with his keys Soul could clearly make out everything that was happening on the TV. _Holy crap. Just how loud does she have it?_

The doorknob twisted easily as he tried to open it and Soul realized that Maka must not have locked it. That was the third thing and now he was officially worried and suspicious. None of these things were like her at all. _Crap, maybe I shouldn't have stayed out so late. What if something bad happened to her? _He pushed the door open slowly and crept in quietly. _What if-?_

"Heeeey! It's Soouuuul!" The door swung shut behind him as Soul froze. Eyes wide – the expression _deer in the headlights_ suddenly made an _amazing_ amount of sense – he glanced up, expecting to see the worst. There would be strangers, the apartment would be trashed, Maka would be in trouble-

Or Maka would be sitting on the counter, laughing and pointing. Soul's worry melted away, instantly replaced with a surge of annoyance. "What the hell Maka?" he snapped, toeing his shoes off, and his meister just laughed even harder. "It's almost past midnight and we have school tomorrow. What are you even…" His voice trailed off as he caught sight of the bottle she was holding tightly. "… what are you drinking Maka?"

"What are you drinking Maka?" she mimicked before giggling again. Feeling like that was confirmation of his worst suspicious Soul walked over and grabbed her hand. She allowed him to slip the neck of the bottle out easily and he stared at the label. _Cotton candy… vodka…_ The smell seeping from it was out of control and he wrinkled his nose before looking up at her. "Where did you get this?"

"I said I was seeing _Papa_. Idiot." Soul groaned at that, eyes sliding shut for a moment. Almost immediately they snapped back open and he looked down again, this time trying to judge how much was gone from the bottle. It looked barely touched, the liquid barely half an inch down from the curve on the bottle.

"Awesome. Was this already opened?"

"Nope." He stared at the bottle some more, trying to figure out just how much she had consumed. An un-open bottle was up to the neck, and even with the little that seemed gone… _Did she chug down like four straight shots?_ "Hey. _Hey_. _Hey!_" Soul looked up and she smiled. "Hi!"

"… Maka, why are you drinking? I mean, screw the fact that you – _you_ – just stole a bottle of liquor from your dad and decided to get wasted on a school night, you did it alone? You're not stupid. I know you know that-"

"Pfffft." She leaned forward and pressed a finger against his lips, causing Soul to recoil as he tasted the alcohol on her hands. "Just whatever. You know, maybe if you were _here_… but fine. I'm okay. You don't have to watch me."

"You are so not okay right now." Soul put the bottle down beside her and frowned. "You're going to hate yourself tomorrow and you're going to deserve it and you need to…. Drink, I think, water? And sleep." He wasn't unfamiliar with alcohol and drunks, but his admittedly limited experience had only involved watching his own parents' trip over each other after having too much wine at dinner. "I definitely know you need to drink some water."

"Hmmm nope!" Maka giggled as she slipped down from the counter. She let out a very audible 'erp' as she landed heavily and for a moment she swayed, looking a bit queasy. The expression disappeared almost instantly, though, as she reached back for the bottle. "I'll drink more of _this_."

"No!" Snatching it back himself Soul gave her another dirty look, though it seemed to have no effect on her. "Damnit. How would you feel if I just started chugging some of this down?"

For a moment this seemed to have the desired sobering effect on Maka. She paused and stared at him, meeting his gaze. Soul's hopes for an easy resolution were dashed, though, when she started to grin. "Do it. Do it, you won't do it."

* * *

"Wow." Black Star looked fairly impressed as Soul took a break from the story. His stomach was starting to turn and he stared forlornly into their food cabinets, knowing he should eat but feeling like everything would make it worse. "She… that sounds really annoying."

"Yeah, it was. And stupid me, I did do it." He glanced back at Black Star. "One of the worst decisions of my life."

"… so then what happened?"


	3. Chapter 3

OMG is here to say – Soul and Maka are being idiots in this chapter kids. This is not how you drink. Please do not emulate them. They are idiots.

* * *

_-2.30 hours_

"Oh, god…" Soul felt his gag reflex squeeze down on the back of his throat. He curled his right arm about and pressed his face against his forearm, breathing air that was filtered through his clothing. His stomach churned and he swore he could actually feel the vodka splash down as waves of cold radiated through his gut. There was nothing about the sensation that was pleasant at all, but as he kept still it slowly started to ebb. The vomit that had crawled up the back of his throat was slowly going back down and, as he lowered his arm, he cast about for something, anything, to get the taste out of his mouth. "It's like drinking sugary paint thinner."

"Wow Soul." Maka took the bottle back from him and lifted it up, one eyebrow arched. "I thought you were supposed to be _so cool_."

"Shut up." It had been his second attempt to drink and he had barely made a dent in the bottle; both times had ended prematurely due to the over-powering sensation of puking. Just the thought of trying again made something inside twist unpleasantly and he groaned before pressing a hand to his mouth. "Like you did it in one go."

"Uh, duh." Her statement confused him – did she mean he was right or that he was wrong? – but before Soul could ask Maka _flounced_ over to the refrigerator. Every movement of hers was over-exaggerated as she yanked it open and leaned forward, upper body obscured by the door before she emerged holding an open bottle of off-brand cola. "You're 'posed to mix it first and then after that you won't care what it tastes like."

* * *

"Wait, wait." Black Star interrupted the story, one hand held in front of him in a 'slow down' gesture. "You're telling me that _Maka_ was teaching _you_ how to drink?" Soul just shot him a withering glare. "Hey, I'm sorry, but you have to admit it sounds a little ridiculous. This is Maka we're talking about. How did she even learn about this to begin with?"

"Oh, well-"

* * *

"Papa used to drink _so much_. It was _so _ridiculous. Why do you think I moved in with you Soul?" Maka asked, jabbing a finger against his chest. He just shrugged in response. "It was because he was always so _drunk_. I know, Mama left him, it's so sad, but he's a grown man. Sometimes it's like… why do you have to act like such a child?"

* * *

"… wow." Soul nodded as Black Star digested that. "Death Scythe never really… I mean, I knew he spent a lot of time at Chupa Cabra's but…"

"Maka was also drunk Black Star," Soul added. "I'm really not taking her word on anything."

* * *

_-1.00 hour_

The noise blaring from the TV had been replaced with the stereo. Soul had dug through a box of CDs he had kept hidden under his bed and had pulled out an old family recording. Sharing it with Maka had seemed like the best possible idea and now a rather serene piano and violin melody filled the apartment. Maka smiled and hummed along, missing the melody and the rhythm entirely, but Soul just urged her on. "You shouldn't be a meister Maka. You should be a _singer_."

"That is such a bad idea Soul," she said as she sank down into one of the chairs around the kitchen table. Soul pulled one up close – _incredibly_ close – and sat backwards. His hands were laced between the bars of the back and he leaned forward so he could rest his chin on the top. "I don't get why you stopped, you know, this," Maka added as she made a swirling gesture with her hand. "It's so _pretty_."

"Whatever." Soul's head tilted to the side and he felt his eyelids begin to droop. Maka looked equally tired as she smiled back at him. "And you know, that's not, you don't… no changing the subject."

"Subject?"

"Yeah." He sat up and scrubbed at his eyes before blinking furiously for a moment. "Okay. We're both _fucked_ now and… we have to go to school tomorrow… and I guess we actually don't _have_ to and I know Stein will know if we go-"

"Oh my god," Maka said, interrupting him. "Stein! He would just… destroy us in class if we showed up like this."

"I know," he said, nodding. "So we… Maka… what is going on?" Her face clouded up and Maka drew back. Ignoring the signs screaming that she didn't want to talk Soul pressed on, reaching one hand out to grip hers. "You've been just… I don't know what you're thinking ever and you're so… a girl."

"What?" She pulled her hand back, brow furrowing in anger. "I'm… that's what-"

"No no, Maka, I mean… I can't read you." Soul took a deep breath as he tried to sort through the jumble of thoughts that were bouncing in his mind. "I just mean that I really care about you but I'm an idiot. I go around and I say all this stuff but you're the one that I end up relying on. You make sense of all the dumb shit I do and… and I can't make sense of you." Maka's expression softened as she listened and Soul was vaguely aware of the odd pitch his voice had reached. She extended her hand, gripping his again. "I don't want to hurt you but I'm just an idiot."

"Soul…" Maka sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her free hand. She laughed and leaned forward to brush her fingers against his cheek; to Soul's surprise there was moisture there and he blinked. _I was crying?_ "Soul, you are so stupid."

"I know. Just talk to me."

"I know." She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze before getting up. Soul just stared at her in confusion as she waited for him to follow suit. "This song is too pretty to waste. You have to dance with me."

* * *

Soul shook his head as he got up from the table. Black Star had a hand pressed against his mouth as he struggled to keep quiet, but he was doing a poor job at keeping his mirth hidden. "You know, it's really not that funny. You could try to be a little more mature."

"Not that funny?" A snicker escaped him as the blue-haired assassin grinned at Soul. "You started… crying…"

"Yeah, you know what? I don't have to be telling you any of this. You should just… leave."

"But you're just getting to the punch line!" Black Star sobered quickly and nodded. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. But maybe you should censor some of the more embarrassing parts that involve you. Or else I'm going to laugh."

"Yeah, fine. I'll censor it."

* * *

_-03 minutes_

Maka laughed wildly as she spun around in Soul's arms. The music had long since stopped but neither of them cared as they continued to dance around the kitchen. Soul had attempted to try to teach her a few steps but, after another shot ( two shots for Maka ), their attention span had proved to be too short for that. "Ahaha, Soul…"

"You really have got to learn to let other people lead." Soul slowed their spinning and smiled down at her. His left arm was hooked around Maka's waist, pulling her close, and his right hand was interlaced with her left. "… sometimes other people like to have control."

"Oh?" Her hair had fallen out of her pigtails and curled around her cheeks, framing her face. Drunk or not – or, most likely, because he _was_ drunk – she was beautiful. _Some guy is really going to be lucky when he notices that._ "Do you-" She stopped mid-sentence, upper lip curling. Before Soul could ask if she was okay Maka pulled back and ran to the sink. Her hands gripped the edge of the basin as she leaned forward and vomited out a stream of nearly pure alcohol.

"… oh." Soul walked over to her slowly. "Wow, geeze, maybe we should go lie down or something. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Make twisted the sink on to wash the basin out. She used one hand to scoop up some water, rinsing the inside of her mouth out. "Wow. That was out of nowhere."

"Well you have had a lot to drink," he said idly as he leaned against the counter by her. "I'm surprised it just didn't happen earlier. Ready to lie down?"

"Soul…" Maka straightened and turned to face him. When she took a step forward Soul became aware of the counter top digging into his back, trapping him in place. "Soul, you really are an idiot. You're so… so dumb…"

"Guilty as charged. But can I…" She put a finger to his lips, silencing him as Maka moved even closer. Standing toe-to-toe she leaned up and kissed him gently.

* * *

"… Soul?" Black Star nudged the teen and he blinked, looking over at him with surprise. "I said to censor, not to stop telling me what happened."

"Uh, sorry. I'm just trying to… thinking."

"And people think I'm the slow one," Black Star muttered. Before Soul could say anything he reached down into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Flipping it open, the blue-haired teen placed it down on the table with a text message from Maka highlighted. _U hste asl mwenn .yoi cm alk rott ujn jrell. _"Kid got this too." Soul grimaced as Black Star continued. "She also left me a voice mail. You wanna hear it?"

"No, actually. I can imagine what she said though." He sighed and took a sip from his glass of water. "Maka just… she said something that I wasn't prepared for and I don't think I responded the way she wanted me to. So she got mad."


	4. Chapter 4

Not really relevant for this story but if you're interested, these are the ages I like to think the characters are: Patty - 16; Black Star and Maka - 17; Liz, Tsubaki, Soul, and Kid - 18

* * *

_+ 30 mins_

"It's getting pretty late Black Star." Even as she spoke Tsubaki knelt by the table. She carefully placed the tray down, taking care not to knock over the cups of tea, and sighed. _Why do I even bother? Once he gets something in his head…_ "It's almost one."

"Don't worry about me Tsubaki." The younger teen looked up and flashed her a grin. In his lap was an open text book, _The History Of The Divine, _and page after page of messily-scrawled notes were sprawled over the rest of the table. "You really don't have to stay up too. I'll be fine. I'm almost done with this chapter."

"That's what you said over an hour ago." A hint of desperation was working into her voice. It didn't matter how tired, exhausted, or worn out Black Star was when he went to class – the self-proclaimed star managed to stay awake through anything ( or just didn't care if the teacher knew he was asleep ). The same couldn't be said about her, and even if she tried to fall asleep now the guilt would just gnaw at her, keeping her awake. He was trying and so hard… but did he really have to try _now_?

Shaking her head, Tsubaki handed one of the cups to him and Black Star wordlessly accepted it, blowing on it before taking a sip. "You've been at this for hours and there's still a week left before the exam. You don't have to try to cram everything into one night."

"Of course not," he agreed and Black Star finally pulled his attention away from the text to really look at Tsubaki. "… I'm really almost done with this chapter, okay?" He flashed another smile after speaking but the charming effect was ruined when a voice started singing in the kitchen. It was a muffled, but rather familiar song, and as it started to get louder Black Star scrambled to his feet. Before the song could finish he had grabbed his phone and was repeatedly stamping down on the 'end' button to silence it. "Eh-heh…"

_I know I've heard that before._ "Who's calling you this late?"

"Maka?" Black Star looked just as confused as Tsubaki when he looked up the contact information. "But she's a super nerd. Maybe Soul took her phone."

"I can't imagine that would end well." There was a beep, announcing that he had a voice mail. They exchanged a glance and Black Star shrugged before calling his inbox.

"Might as well hear what she had to say…"

Tsubaki could hear the ever-the-same voice of the female operator instructing Black Star to input his code. Using his momentary distraction she leaned over the table and started to gather up the papers, trying to keep some rudimentary semblance of organization. _Maybe he should start numbering these… how could he even tell where he started?_

"HEY!" She jumped and looked over at Black Star; he was holding the phone away, obviously startled by the sudden loud voice that came screeching from it. "WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING YOUR PHONE? I KNOW YOU'RE THERE, I KNOW YOU'RE JUST oh shit he's going to _kill me_." Maka giggle snorted and even from her distance Tsubaki could hear a door slamming shut. Soul's voice was muffled in the background before the door was whipped open.

"Give me the damn phone Maka!"

"Why? So you can- aah, no, you can't touch me! Stop it! Soul!" There was a rather abrupt silence that followed. Tsubaki's gaze flicked over to Black Star and they stared at each other for a moment before hearing _If you would like to listen again please press 1._

"Uh, so… it sounds like they're… having a good time," he said slowly as he flipped the phone shut. Tsubaki nodded in agreement.

"Of course they are. I bet they just forgot the time. We shouldn't… worry."

"No, definitely," he agreed with a short nod.

Before Tsubaki could agree the phone broke out in song again. It didn't go past the first syllable before Black Star hastily silenced it, though once again she felt positive she knew what it was. "Her again?"

"No, Soul this time… and I really don't think I want to know what he's calling about."

* * *

"I was just calling to- never mind. You are the worst friend ever though."

"Me? The worst friend?" Black Star snorted. "Sorry, at least I don't call people at one in the morning to just scream at them."

"That wasn't me! That was Maka!"

* * *

"Maybe they aren't as okay as we hope," Tsubaki said slowly. Black Star just shrugged again. Placing his cell phone down on the table he started to gather up the papers as well, taking the small pile from her to add to the others. Once they were relatively neat he crammed them into the text book and shut it. _Oh. Well._

"They're fine. This is Soul and Maka we're talking about. If anything this is just another dumb fight and I really don't want to get involved with that at this hour." As horrible as it sounded Tsubaki realized it was probably true and she sighed. While Black Star cleaned up his mess she picked up the dirty dishes, finishing her own cup of tea as she carried the rest out to the sink. "Besides, I thought you wanted me to get to bed."

Tsubaki smiled at that as she turned the water on. Hot water, soap, a rag, and soon the small pile of dirty dishes that had accumulated through Black Star's studying binge had disappeared. _Everything's clean and put away and even though it's late we'll both get some good rest-_

"Excalibur! Excalibur!" Her head snapped up as the song was belted out from the living room. "From the United Kingdom I'm looking for her-" and then Tsubaki could hear Black Star thundering back down the hall, desperate to reach his phone. "-I'm going to Cali-!"

"Uh, hi! Hey Kid!" he said rather over-enthusiastically. Tsubaki just giggled as she started drying. "What's-… oh, really? She did? Uh, huh… no, I'm closer. All right."

There was a moment of silence after he hung up. Black Star shuffled into the kitchen and Tsubaki waited for him to belt out some off-hand remark about how he needed to leave and don't wait up, it really didn't matter if he missed another class. When she heard nothing, though, the ninja weapon glanced back. Her meister _was_ standing there though his head was lowered and his eyes were trained to the floor, giving him a rather uncharacteristic meek appearance. "… Excalibur?"

"It's the only way I could make sure I would answer the damn thing. Do you how much of a pain in the ass it was to get him to shut _up_ after asking him to sing?" Tsubaki giggled at that and he looked up, grinning again. "Whatever. A star like me can deal with that guy any day."

"I'm sure. What happened?"

"I guess Maka called Kid before me and just ripped into him. I'm just gonna go check it out and make sure nothing possessed her or something."

* * *

"Oh man, I'm really sorry about that." All remnants of his tipsiness were now gone and Soul could feel a headache starting to dig its fingers into the side of his skull. Noting his obvious discomfort Black Star hopped up and went to one of the cabinets to dig out a bottle of aspirin. "I kept on trying to get her phone from her but… she was determined to piss me off." He groaned, leaning back in the chair. "And now I'm going to have to apologize to Kid. Thank god she didn't call her dad…"

"Are you sure? I mean, did you check her phone?" Soul looked sick as he thought about that and Black Star chuckled weakly as he walked back. He placed the two white pills on the table, next to Soul's glass.

"I didn't even think… I will, tomorrow. I don't think I could handle it if she had right now." With a sigh he leaned forward and picked up the medicine, giving the assassin a nod of thanks as he took them. "So, right. I had pissed Maka off. And probably at the worst possible time…"


	5. Chapter 5

I don't have much to say there so here I am saying nothing much.

* * *

_+ 10 mins_

There were definite levels of kissing. One on the cheek meant you were a friend, one on the forehead meant you were dear, and one on the lips meant that you were _very_ dear. One on the lips that lasted for more than ten seconds and that included tongue and some awkward body rubbing meant, well, Soul _knew_ what that meant but he had never associated that with Maka. In fact, his meister had always seemed hell bent on ensuring that no one would _ever_ think of her that way.

Until right now, when there was nothing else for Soul to imagine.

"Mmm, Soul…" Maka shifted her weight off her toes and leaned forward. One hand was splayed across Soul's chest and the other was curled around his neck as she breathed on him. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

_You're right, I haven't. I hadn't even known you had wanted anyone._She leaned up again for another kiss and all Soul could see was her bent over the sink, puke gushing from her mouth. He cringed and lifted his hand up, slipping it between their mouths, and when Maka blinked and looked up at him in confusion he tried to gently push her back. "Maybe, maybe, you should try some mouth wash?"

She continued to stare even as he moved her back. Taking her stunned silence as a positive Soul hastily grabbed two cups from the cabinet and filled them both with water. He handed one to Maka and held the other to his lips, exaggerating the drinking motions. "Trust me, you'll feel a lot better in the morning if you do this," he said before closing his eyes and gulping down half the cup.

Something wet smacked him in the face followed by something hard. Soul opened his eyes to see Maka taking off down the hall, hands waving above her head as she yelled something incoherent. He wiped at his face and put his cup down before stepping forward to go after her. As he did his foot landed on the fallen plastic cup that Maka had previously winged him with and he slipped, his own arms flailing as he tried to catch himself on air. He did manage to break the fall, but only by using his elbow and knee as a cushion.

"Ha! HA HA!" The sounds came from down the hall and a door slammed shut. With a groan Soul pulled himself to his feet, kicking the offending cup away as he did. _All right Soul Eater, let's assess the situation. Your meister is wasted, tried to make out with you, and now has probably locked herself in a room. You are kind of drunk and wet and your elbow and knee feel like pain. This… this has not been one of your better nights._For a moment Soul wanted to just roll over and cry. The day had started off so well too; a better-than-passing grade on one of Stein's assignments, getting asked out by the cute blonde from the Harvest Moon class… _everything_ was coming up Soul and then his stupid irrational meister had to chew him out about the dumb letters-

_The letter._ Using one of the kitchen chairs Soul pulled himself to his feet, wincing as he did; there was definitely going to be a bruise on his knee tomorrow and _just_ a bruise if he was lucky. Scanning the table he spotted Maka's bag lying haphazardly on its side. He limped over to it and unzipped it, fishing inside for her book. _She got all stupid and pissy over that stupid letter._

The book was gone, though his fingers did catch on the sharpened tip of a compass. "Mother-!" Soul caught himself before finishing the obscenity as he jerked his hand from the bag. _Who does that? Who leaves shit like that there?_

"HEY!" With his finger jammed in his mouth Soul turned about. Maka was standing in the doorway, an almost malicious smile twisting her lips as she held her phone tightly in her hand. "What the HELL are you doing?"

"I… was…" Every viable excuse fled from his mind. Soul's left hand was still clutching the bag, holding it shut now behind him, but it was obvious what he had been doing before. "Maka, what are you planning on doing with your phone?"

"Gueeess what I've already done?" she slurred out and he felt his stomach drop. Soul took a step toward Maka and she took one back, maintaining their distance. "You're all the same. None of this even matters. Maybe if I was prettier or if I was bigger but no, stupid Soul Eater can't even look twice as his flat-chested partner!"

"Maka…" There was a slight growl to his tone now and Maka swallowed hard. Something cleared in her eyes as she backed up again. Her heel caught on Soul's jacket – _when did I even take that off?_ – and she glanced back to free her foot. Soul used her distraction to lunge forward, intent on grabbing the phone from her. That was beyond important. Whatever she was going to do, the damage would be ten times worse if a phone was involved.

Maka jerked her hand up and her fist collided with Soul's nose. His head jerked back in reflex and he reached up with his right hand to grab onto anything for support. The anything ended up being the front of Maka's shirt – the more _padded_ section of her front. She let out a yelp and he tried to let go, but they were both already falling and he hit the ground hard. All air was emptied from his lungs as he let out a large gasp of air and the suffocating position was compounded by Maka's full bodyweight slamming down onto him.

"Crap… Maka…" Soul groaned and tried to push her off. "I can't…"

"You can't what, huh?"The initial shock of being groped wore off quickly and Maka straightened. She shifted her weight back over Soul's hip and smirked down at him, completely unaware of the view he was getting from her pulled-up skirt. "Not so strong and cool now are you?"

"Maka, I can't breathe," he wheezed out. The brunette frowned and leaned forward, angling her weight back onto his stomach as she tried to hear better. "Breathe breathe! I can't breathe!"

Her mouth formed an 'o' of surprise as Maka slid off of Soul. He sucked in a breath of much needed air and sighed in relief as the feeling of suffocation started to ease. "Sorry." She paused and he looked over at her – Maka was twirling her hair around one finger and looked a bit distraught. "… I think I farted on you."

* * *

"So that really happened?" Soul nodded as Black Star just stared at him incredulously. "Wow. I'm… torn between feeling really sorry for you and feeling like I missed out on a hell of a show."

"Believe me, I would trade you this night if I could." He finished his glass and got up again to refill it. While up Soul opened the cabinet again and pulled out a pack of crackers. "I know I rag on her about being such a stick in the mud but this was beyond uncool. Talk about going from zero to sixty…"

* * *

"Damnit Maka!"

There had been a moment – a brief moment, but one nonetheless – that Soul had thought that entire ordeal was over. After her confession Maka had seemed to sober and she had quietly accepted a cup of water, drinking it while Soul toweled himself off. She didn't help him clean up the mess in the kitchen, but she didn't run off and throw a tantrum while he did so either. Everything was going fine…

Until her phone beeped. Soul knew he should have taken it from her when he had the chance, and he knew he should have grabbed it from her before she could check it, but he just watched with a growing sense of apprehension as she read the message. In less than five seconds a spectrum of emotions flashed over her face and she settled on rage. "That pompous self-absorbed asshole!"

* * *

"What got her so upset?"

"Honestly? No idea."

* * *

"Maka…" Soul said gently. He placed a hand out, palm flat, in a 'calm down' gesture as he moved toward her. "Whatever happened, I'm sure it's really nothing we have to get worked up over."

"You're all just the same…"

"Come on."

"No!" She looked up at him and their gaze met for a moment. Fueled by booze and spite Maka made a face before darting back down the hall. Soul had enough presence of mind to check to make sure there was nothing on the ground that would trip him before going after her. He could hear her dialing, hear the phone ringing, and as she started to shout into the phone she reached her room and slammed the door shut.

"Maka!" He pounded on the door a bit harder than was strictly necessary and felt a surge of satisfaction at seeing it tremble in its frame. "Maka, open the damn door right now!" She was obviously ignoring him and Soul growled before finally trying to door knob.

It was unlocked.

Soul slammed it open and she stared up at him, eyes wide and panicked even as she laughed into the phone. "Give me the phone _now_!" The kid gloves were coming off, so to speak. Drunk or not, there was no reason for Maka to be acting so _irresponsibly_ and he was done playing babysitter.

"No, don't-" Maka gasped as he crossed the space between them. He grabbed the phone with one hand and grabbed her free arm with the other, holding her in place. "Don't touch me! Soul!" The phone was snapped shut and dropped on her bed. "Soul, you're scaring me!"

"I'm scaring _you?_" He stared down at her incredulously. "I'm not the one acting like an idiot! What the hell are you even _thinking_?"

She sniffed once, twice, and then nodded jerkily. Her eyes looked unnaturally bright and he feared she was going to cry for a moment, but Maka kept it together. "You're right. I'm sorry," she said slowly. Soul let out a heavy breath and let her arm go, though he kept a wary eye on her. The brunette made no move to run, though, and just stood there sniffing and wiping at her eyes.

"It's pretty late Maka," Soul said slowly and she just nodded. "Let's just forget about this and calm down before going to sleep." _No point rushing that. There's no way either one of us is attending class tomorrow. _When he got no response the white-haired scythe reached out and placed a hand on Maka's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Come on," he said, smiling.

Maka looked up and a rather watery smile twisted her lips. "Okay Soul."

* * *

"And not too long after that you showed up. And then… well, you know the rest of the story." Soul looked positively exhausted when he finished his tale. Black Star could only sympathize; it sounded like he had gone through hell. "And now she's passed out and I'm hoping she won't wake up for another, I don't know, week."

"I'm not sure if I'm sorry or if I'm glad I missed this. I still can't wrap my head around the idea of Maka acting this way." Black Star stretched his arms over his head and glanced over at Soul. "So what are you going to do when she does wake up?"

"Do? Probably force-feed her some Tylenol and make her take a shower."

"Yeah, but, what are you going to _do_?" Soul blinked and looked over at Black Star. The assassin's expression looked completely innocent but the question sounded anything but. He had tried to fudge over all the parts where Maka had just hemorrhaged her emotions, but… _I wonder if he knows. It's not like there's much I can do if he does._ "And what are you going to tell Stein?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll tell him the truth. I think I'll have a few seconds head start before he tears into me… the shock should give us enough time."

Black Star snorted as he stood. "How about I just tell him that you two were sick," he offered. "I'll need an excuse myself for how tired I'm going to be tomorrow."

"You're still going?"

"And miss a chance to have the spotlight on me?" He laughed and jabbed his thumb against his chest. "No way." There was a pause as his expression shifted. "But really… good luck with tomorrow Soul."

"Yeah. I'm definitely going to need it."


	6. Chapter 6

DID YOU MISS ME? I missed you! And I am bullocks at wrapping things up. Don't worry, this isn't the end! Though we won't be seeing any of Maka and Soul in the next chapter. Wuups.

* * *

The headache that Soul woke up to was a thing of glory. It wasn't just that his head ached ( that was a given considering the name of his pain ) – his entire _body_ ached. His back twinged as he tried to sit up, his stomach lurched unpleasantly, his head felt like it was swimming, and he was fairly certain he was starting to get a cold. Or some sort of sickness; every intake of breath felt like death.

He sat up slowly and tried to determine which of his ailments was affecting him the most. As bad as the pain was it wasn't about to cause any immediate side-effects, but the stomach gurgling was starting to become worrying. Taking care as he stood Soul limped to the bathroom. _This is so uncool…_

Fifteen minutes, and a much calmer stomach later, Soul rinsed his hands off before leaving the bathroom. He padded out to the kitchen with the intent of grabbing some more aspirin along with something small to eat. On the way there he passed through the living room and noticed that the couch was empty. The couch that Maka had passed out on last night. _Oh, no…_

"Soul?" He turned around quickly and immediately regretted his decision – his head spun from pain from the sudden movement. Maka was leaning against the doorway between the hall and the living room, her arm pressed against the corner as she rested her forehead in the crook of her elbow. Her hair hung in greasy tangles around her face and she wore only an oversized t-shirt that hung off her shoulders. If it weren't for the fact that she looked like the living dead Soul might have found her attractive. "Soul, I feel… like shit."

"Ha. You kind of look it too." She shot him a withering glare before making her way to the couch. She flopped down face first, grabbing and hugging one of the pillows as she did. "You okay?"

"No!" Maka shouted, though her voice was muffled by the pillow. "My mouth tastes like sour milk and my skin feels like I rolled around in dirt and my head feels like Black Star tried to perform a drum solo on it. I don't even remember going to sleep."

"Well you had enough by that point…" Soul sat on the arm of the couch as Maka lifted her head. "What do you remember?"

"I remember…" Embarrassment flickered over her face and Maka lowered her head back down. "I just remember drinking," she said rather evasively and Soul chuckled. "Shut up. I feel like garbage."

He bit his tongue to keep from responding with _Asymmetrical garbage._ Soul got up and went to the kitchen. Filling up two cups of water again he took them out to Maka and placed one on the table by her. "Drink up and let me know how your stomach feels. I don't want to waste any food on you if you're just going to puke it back up."

"Oh thanks…" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and she made no move to take the glass. Soul patted her head before getting up again; his stomach felt safe enough for breakfast. He felt a little bad at just abandoning her like that, but there wasn't much he could really do to make her feel any better. The weapon only had limited experience with hangovers, mainly from watching his parents or his brother stumble home after one too many, but from what he had learned it seemed that you could only try to prevent the symptoms from occurring the next day. Nothing but time and patient would make it go away any faster once the hangover set in.

_Now, what to eat…_

Soul spent a couple minutes peering aimlessly through the cabinets in their apartment before deciding to just settle on some toast. A few minutes in the toaster plus a bit of butter and he was sitting at the table quietly munching away. His meal choice was apparently a Good Idea; the left-over rumblings in his stomach calmed down considerably and the weird shaky feeling in his arms and legs started to leave. _Cool. I feel almost human again._

As he sat and ate Soul caught sight of Maka's messenger bag again. He remembered his drunken attempt at fishing out the note from inside but she had interrupted him before he could succeed._ Yeah, well…_ He twisted around to glance out into the living room and saw Maka still lying face-down on the couch, pillow still hugged to her face. _I don't think she's going to be able to interrupt me this time. And that damn note was what started all of this. I kind of think I deserve some sort of explanation._

Taking care to avoid any sharp objects Soul carefully and quietly reached into her bag again. _Pencils, paper… ah, here we go. Book._ He slipped it out and placed it on top of the bag before pulling the envelope from it.

It was still sealed, so Maka must have known what was inside. Soul was already starting to have his own suspicions as he tore it open. He pressed down on the top and bottom seam as he shook it, allowing the note inside to slip out. A rather generic looking greeting card fell out and bounced against the table top, the 'thunk' practically echoing in the quiet. He glanced back again to make sure Maka wasn't reacting to the sound before picking it up.

On the outside there was a picture of some trees in autumn, leaves turning red and orange with quite a few piled on the ground beneath them. _Huh,_ he thought before opening it. Nothing was printed but there was a hand-written message in the middle of the right side. _**Thank you for being everything to me.**_ Nothing was signed but he could recognize the writing easily. _… Maka…?_

Considering what had happened last night Soul knew he shouldn't have been surprised, but still – _Maka… you like me?_ No, it was more than that. The bond between them was definitely deeper than mere 'like' but he had always brushed it off. Meisters and weapons, by nature, had to be close, but that didn't mean they were constantly tripping over each other and falling heads-over-heels in… well… _that_. _You… _Everything was suddenly put in perspective and he felt a surge of guilt as he remembered just how callous he had acted toward her yesterday. _S'not my fault. I didn't know. Maybe if you had just told me…_

Really? Would anything have ended up differently? He tried to imagine how it would have played out if his meister had just tried to tell him when they were both sober and ( relatively ) rational and none of the outcomes were pleasant. _I definitely just wouldn't have believed her,_ he admitted as he put the card down. _And that really wouldn't have helped anything at all. She would have just gotten angry at me and I would have been confused and then she probably wouldn't have ever brought it up again._

Which led him to – what happens now? _What if I can't be her weapon anymore?_ The thought terrified him and Soul felt a rather queasy feeling start to curl in his stomach. That, _that_ was an unthinkable outcome but it was one he definitely had to keep in mind. Even the strongest bond could be broken… _You idiot! Maka, why did you have to go and do this?_

Soul realized that he could sit there and think about it for hours on end without coming to a satisfactory conclusion. It just boiled down to what he felt and the truth was that he didn't know. Life without Maka was something he had never thought about before but he had always assumed his life would eventually include another person. It felt practically impossible to flip the label in his brain that had categorized his meister as a 'friend' to 'something more', though. _Just what am I supposed to do…_

He was suddenly very glad that his date with the Harvest Moon girl had gotten cut short. Anything more than just a quick dinner and a movie and the situation would have been even more clouded.

_Well, it's not like I have to make any decision on this now._ Soul let out a soft sigh as he stood up, picking the plate and cup up as he did. He walked over to the sink and rinsed them off before placing them into the dishwasher. _It's not like she's going to want to talk about what happened anytime so-_

"Soul?" The weapon winced when he heard Maka call his name out. She sounded a bit better from before, though it was clear she still wasn't feeling well. "Do you have a second?"

_Well… crap._

"Yeah, what's up?" Soul forced a rather cheesy grin on his face as he walked back into the living room. Maka had forced herself into a sitting position and she was clutching the half-empty cup tightly in both hands. They were trembling some and he noted that she was worrying her bottom lip, a sure sign that she was anxious about something. "You still don't look good. How's your stomach?"

"Fine," she said vaguely before shaking her head. "Soul, about last night…"

"Maka." He sighed again before taking a seat on the arm of the couch. _Of course you can't wait. You always need to get everything over and done with as soon as possible. _"There's not much to talk about. Just promise me you won't do something stupid like that again, okay? You really had me worried for a bit."

"Soul, I remember what I did. I…" She faltered and, just like him, it was obvious that she didn't know where to go with it. "I'm… sorry. I shouldn't have just dumped all of that onto you. You shouldn't have had to deal with."

"Maka-"

"No Soul. It's true. I promise, it won't come up again."

This momentarily stymied the weapon and he just stared at her in silence. _Won't come up again?_ Well, that seemed like a neat and easy solution to his problem… except that it wasn't neat or easy at all. Just because she wouldn't voice how she felt didn't mean that Maka would suddenly fall out of _that_ for him and it didn't mean she would stop feeling hurt every time he was with someone else. And it definitely didn't mean that he would be able to ignore the feeling of guilt knowing that he was just hurting his meister.

And did he want to hurt her? Hell, did he even want to _be_ with anyone else? It was a hard question to answer but Soul realized that he was leaning more to the side of 'no' than anything else. Being with Maka wasn't something he would mind. It was just… new. Something he would have to let himself adjust to.

"Maka," he started again, and she immediately opened her mouth to interrupt. Soul reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head as he did. "No, let me talk. Maka… You're my meister. And… no matter what I'm never going to leave you."

It wasn't a confession of love ( at this point he had to face the word; there was no way getting around it ) but it seemed more than fitting considering their relationship. Maka glanced over at him and he offered her a small smile, squeezing her shoulder as he did. Her brow furrowed a bit and she sniffed before looking away. "Thank you Soul," she murmured softly as she wiped at her eyes.

"No problem. Just really, promise me you won't touch any alcohol again? At least if I'm not with you to monitor how much you drink?" She laughed a bit shakily at that but nodded.

"I promise."


	7. Chapter 7

_+ 6 months_

Neither of them had any idea what to expect from a relationship. Were they supposed to act different toward each other now? Did that mean they weren't allowed to do anything separately? Did they have to tell each other everything that was happening in their lives? And what was going to happen with their friends? Was there some sort of etiquette about how to tell them and were they going to be upset about the change?

As Soul found out the next day – and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after _that_ – the answer to all of those questions was _Are you a freakin' idiot? Nothing's going to change._

Of course some things _did_. They were dating and that, in its self, was a change. They were going to look at each other differently, smilingly stupidly the entire time, and Black Star was going to mock them endless for this ( and Maka was going to hit him _hard_ for that, turning the entire focus of the conversation to their ridiculous bickering ) but other than that… _I guess we pretty much were doing all of this even before that night,_ Soul thought wryly.

A few years of uncertainty around each other, one night of decisions that just went from bad to worse, and now they had six months together that he wouldn't give up for the world.

"Soul?" The white-haired scythe blinked as Maka's voice broke through his thoughts. He glanced over at his meister to see her looking at him curiously. "You must be in some really deep thought. You gonna finish your lunch?" He glanced down at the half-eaten sandwich in his hands and grinned some before nodding. "Weirdo…"

"Like you're one to talk," he retorted. "Freak."

She rolled her eyes and he could tell she was working on some 'witty' response by the way her lips moved. Maka never had a chance to snap back her insult though – before she could say anything they heard Liz shouting as the older Thompson sister ran toward their table. "Hey! Guys, hey!"

She stopped at their table, a bit flushed and out of breath, but her excitement was practically palpable as she shoved her hand into Soul's face. He leaned back with a grimace and it took him a moment to realize that it wasn't her _hand_ she was trying to show him but the tickets she was holding tightly. "He got them! Kid got them!"

"What? Kid got what?"

"The tickets!" He stared at her before glancing over at Maka; the brunette just returned the expression with a shrug – _I have no idea what she's talking about either._ "To the concert! General Causality! It's their opening of their tour!"

"Wait, what?" Maka asked, her voice rising in pitch. "General Causality? They're coming here? And he got tickets?"

"Yeah, for all of us!" The pistol seemed unable to contain her excitement as she practically danced in place, her fists beating against the air. "We're all going and I can't believe this and I have to go tell Tsubaki about this _right now_." There was no chance to reply before Liz was off again, shouting and waving her hand wildly in the air as she tried to get the shadow weapon's attention. Soul's gaze tracked after her as he laughed, feeling mostly perplexed by the encounter.

"Wow. She's excited," he said as he turned back to Maka. His meister nodded in agreement, though she looked a bit like she wanted to explode with enthusiasm as well. "Looks like we get to go to a concert."

"Get to go?" Maka repeated incredulously. "You don't just 'get to go' to a General Causality concert. You get to be _lucky_ enough to go. Holy crap… what? What's so damn funny Soul?" she snapped. The scythe had started to laugh, more than amused by the slightly dazed expression that had started to slip over her expression. "Stop laughing at me, jerk."

"Ha…" _No, things aren't ever going to change. Not between us._ He grinned at her, causing her to raise a brow in confusion. "All right. Let's just hope nothing crazy happens at this concert."

"Yeah right… Now you've gone and jinxed it."

* * *

_- some unspecified amount of time between the first night and the last conversation_

Spirit frowned as he stared into the small liquor cabinet. _I could have sworn,_ he thought, and again he shifted the bottles around. The result didn't change; whatever he was looking for was gone. _And I got this specifically for tonight._

"Sorry." With a small sigh the death scythe straightened. "Guess we're just going to have to have something else tonight." As he spoke a pair of arms slipped around him as cold hands planted against his chest. The figure behind him nodded as he leaned in closer.

"Don't worry about it Spirit," Stein whispered. "I have something better in mind anyway."

* * *

Hey, the author's note is coming at the end of the chapter!

First, I totally lied. This was all about Soul and Maka. I had something else in mind originally but it sucked and I sucked at writing it and I felt bad so it got changed to this. Enjoy? ( The Spirit and Stein scene was always meant to be there though – I wonder how many people just ran from my story because of that? )

Also, the ending totally sucks! Mainly because I cannot end things for my life. Hrm. Oops. Why did I bother bringing up such an odd plot point like a concert they're going to when this is the end of the story? Because I'm going to write _a sequel._

But it's going to be a Kid and Black Star story.

For those of you still interested ( Read: no one because you're all jamming the back button now ) it's probably going to be called something incredibly uncreative like "The Concert" because I'm terrible with titles. I want to get a few more chapters of Reaper's Madness up first though so look for it sometime mid-April.

And finally – thank you everyone who's favorited and alerted the story, even if you didn't review. And double thanks to everyone who did review. I suck at keeping up with responses but every single one really did mean a lot to me and did encourage me to actually finish a story for once.


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